As a Blue Islander, I am pleading with my neighbors in the south suburbs of Chicago to call their Cook County Board of Commissioners. Our kids need us to vote yes for a penny per ounce sugar sweetened beverage tax on the upcoming Cook County budget. As a public health advocate working in obesity prevention, and as a private citizen who cares deeply about the people where I live, I am asking you to make a call.

We all know the facts about obesity — the situation is dire, especially for kids. Did you know that beverage companies are allowed to write off any marketing expenses to children? That means they're marketing to kids at very little cost. That's not fair. Did you know that low-income communities and communities of color are marketed to at a much higher rate? That means Blue Island, Robbins, Harvey and Dolton, for example, will hear and see more from Coke and Pepsi. Kids are highly susceptible to marketing. That's not fair.

Thankfully, we live in a democracy. We have elected officials who have agreed to listen to what we need, and enact policy that reflects our needs. Right now, we need less sugar. We need to be the voice for our kids — they've entrusted us to care for them, and to keep them out of harm's way.

Having just attended the American Public Health Association conference in Denver, I am deeply encouraged to hear directly from the very people in Berkeley, Philadelphia and Mexico who structured sugar sweetened beverage taxes in those places, are allocating funding into positive community efforts, and are improving health for people in their communities. They are already seeing excellent results: people there are already suffering less.

Kids simply cannot contribute positively to our society if they're suffering from diabetes, stroke and heart disease at a young age. Physicians and community health educators are at a loss as to how to address obesity in their clinics.

A sugar-sweetened beverage tax has substantial benefits on kids' dietary habits immediately and does not create a dearth of employment, net-wise, as beverage industry supporters would like you to believe.

Right now, our Cook County commissioners have a moral obligation to vote yes. They have more power to affect our kids' well-being than doctors do. Let's give kids what they need to succeed. It's the only fair thing to do.

Anna Carvlin, Blue Island

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